First Brew Day Tomorrow...

So after thinking about my pot size and water situation, here is what I plan on doing for my first brew, please let me know what you would do differently or if there are any major mistakes:

-Tonight, I will boil ~3 gallons of water for a while and then add it to my (sanitized) plastic bucket after it has cooled. I'll let this sit overnight.

-Sunday, I will boil ~3 gallons again to make my wort. Once I cool this in an ice bath, I'll vigorously pout it into the primary bringing my final volume to 5 gallons (and will top off with boiled water if necessary).

-Pitch the yeast, and let it sit for 3-4 weeks.

My thinking here is that the primary will be sanitized, so letting my water sit in it overnight will not hurt anything (since it will need to be sitting for 3-4 weeks anyway). That way, I can just make my wort and pour it on top tomorrow. Sound good?

*As a side note, do I need to refrigerate my hops packages that came with my NB kit? No instructions on that. Thanks!

Refrigerate the hops until you use them. I actually store mine in the freezer.

Why waste gas or electric on boiling water you are only using to top up with? Either buy spring water or just use what comes out of the tap. Do you drink your water from the tap at home? If you have tap water concerns, go ahead and boil tonight, but the water you use with your kit for the boil does not need to be boiled first. It will be boiled when you add your kit ingredients.

Sanitation is critical, so always keep that in mind. As for leaving water in the pail...... as long as it is sealed or covered, you should be ok.

Have a good first brew day! Good Luck.

Salute!

Yes, few things wrong. That sanitized bucket is not your fermenter right? Don't top with boiling water, you need your wort to be under 80 degrees to pitch the yeast. Temps are important! No need to frige the hops unless storing them for a long time. Hope this helps a little.

WholeHoppness said:

Yes, few things wrong. That sanitized bucket is not your fermenter right? Don't top with boiling water, you need your wort to be under 80 degrees to pitch the yeast. Temps are important! No need to frige the hops unless storing them for a long time. Hope this helps a little.

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Sorry just woke up, I ment frige the hops if you not boiling that night or next morn. not long time.
Good luck with it!

I find it easier/better to just buy gallons of spring water to brew with. I stick 3 in the fridge or even freezer(but don't let them freeze) then when added to the wort will bring the temp down faster.

Thanks for the responses. I don't have tap water concerns as I do drink water from the tap, I had simply read that it was safest to boil any water you were going to top your wort off with to avoid infection. Also, I wouldn't be topping the wort with boiling water. I would have the (previously boiled) water sitting in my primary over night, and then just add my wort to it tomorrow.

I may just go with tap water, or buy a few gallons of spring water from the store. I'll refrigerate my hops as well tonight just in case the brew day doesn't work out tomorrow!

Okay so to play it safe I bought 2 gallons of water from the grocery store to use in my primary. However, there were 3 different kinds and I didn't know what to get!

-Distilled Water
-Drinking Water
-Spring Water

I went with the Spring Water, but was pulled towards the Distilled Water. Should I go swap them out tonight before brewing tomorrow? (Obviously I didn't end up brewing on Sunday haha).

No, spring water is what you want. Distilled water has had all of the minerals removed, so you don't want that. I have no idea what "drinking water" is. It could be distilled, reverse osmosis, or even spring water with a label of "drinking water", so I think the spring water was a good choice.

Alright thanks. I'm also looking for a mixing ratio for my StarSan. I was just going to mix the right amount in my 8oz spray bottle and just spray everything and let it sanitize for a few minutes.

Why can't the OP just top off with water straight out of the tap, assuming it's from a regular municipal source?

Frank99 said:

Why can't the OP just top off with water straight out of the tap, assuming it's from a regular municipal source?

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He could. Unless he had chlorine in the water, or chloramines. Since he already bought the water, I said the spring water was fine.

ThirdGen said:

Alright thanks. I'm also looking for a mixing ratio for my StarSan. I was just going to mix the right amount in my 8oz spray bottle and just spray everything and let it sanitize for a few minutes.

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You should use distilled water for your StarSan because it will last longer. I get a bucket and add 2 gallons of distilled water and around 1/2 oz StarSan, mix, then funnel the solution into a spray bottle and the rest back into the gallon jugs. As long as the solution's PH stays under 3 and doesn't look too cloudy, you can use it over and over.

Thanks for the info everyone, today is the day! I decided to use the Spring Water simply because I hadn't checked with my water provider on the contents of my tap water yet.

My last question (for now) before getting started is, do I need to strain the wort going into my primary? It will have hops in it, and I will not be doing a secondary (just the one fermenter for 3-4 weeks). Will it be too much trouble come bottling time if I don't strain it?

If I do need to strain, what should I use, just a regular household strainer? I've seen some people suggest something from Home Depot that you just spread over the mouth of your bucket.

Okay, I made it through! WOW, what a great time, now my apartment smells of heavenly grains and hops haha. I ended up having to use a gallon of tap water (more boiled off than I expected).

I have a question about how I did the aeration and the pitching of the yeast though. I followed the instructions on the packet of dry yeast (pour into 4oz warm water and let sit for 15 minutes). While these were hydrating I shook the bejesus out of my primary for 2 minutes and took a hydrometer reading (1.041). Then, I poured in the 4oz of yeast, sealed, and shook again for another 2 minutes to spread them about and get more oxygen in there for them. Then, popped on the airlock and stuck it in my guest bathroom shower. :rockin:

Was I not supposed to shake again after adding the yeast? It's kind of freaking me out, but I know I should probably just RDWHAHB...

ThirdGen said:

Okay, I made it through! WOW, what a great time, now my apartment smells of heavenly grains and hops haha. I ended up having to use a gallon of tap water (more boiled off than I expected).

I have a question about how I did the aeration and the pitching of the yeast though. I followed the instructions on the packet of dry yeast (pour into 4oz warm water and let sit for 15 minutes). While these were hydrating I shook the bejesus out of my primary for 2 minutes and took a hydrometer reading (1.041). Then, I poured in the 4oz of yeast, sealed, and shook again for another 2 minutes to spread them about and get more oxygen in there for them. Then, popped on the airlock and stuck it in my guest bathroom shower. :rockin:

Was I not supposed to shake again after adding the yeast? It's kind of freaking me out, but I know I should probably just RDWHAHB...

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RDWHAHB. As long as fermentation had not yet begun (which it hadn't directly after pitching) then it doesn't matter. I wouldn't mess with it anymore though now that your yeasties have had some time to eat...

Thanks kingmatt, the more I thought it about it I was worried some of the yeast cells may have stuck to the lid or sides of the bucket above the wort. At this point, I'm just checking on it every 30 minutes or so because I can't wait to see a bubble come through the airlock. I know it can take 24-72 hours though, so I need to relax!

ThirdGen said:

Thanks kingmatt, the more I thought it about it I was worried some of the yeast cells may have stuck to the lid or sides of the bucket above the wort. At this point, I'm just checking on it every 30 minutes or so because I can't wait to see a bubble come through the airlock. I know it can take 24-72 hours though, so I need to relax!

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I know it's so hard, especially on your first brew, but don't mess with it for a few days. If I'm curious about whether or not the fermentation is started, I VERY GENTLY press on the top of the plastic lid. Forcing it down a fraction of a millimeter pushes out a tiny amount of air from the airlock, and my nose is conveniently right next to it so that I can get a whiff of the "action".

I highly recommend gentleness in this maneuver, b/c done too forcefully it can cause suckback (oops!). Also, just try to forget about the beer for a while -- it will make the waiting easier, I promise!

I think drinking water IS tap water.